Witches
Bestowed with magical abilities beyond belief, Witches are mortal beings possessing the powers of Spell Casting, Scrying and Potion Making. Most Witches are also gifted with an active power linked to their emotions that can be used for defensive purposes; as most witches are often targeted by other magical beings, the active power serves as a method to protect themselves. The powers can range from Premonition to Deflection to Projection and can be used for Good or Evil; the method to which a Witch uses his or her powers will distinguish him or her as either Good or Evil. Quick Facts Classification: Magical Species Alignment: Good or Evil Gender: Male/Female Magical Abilities *'Spell Casting': Creating rhyming couplets infused with magic to vanquish, summon, conjure, banish, affect or create *'Potion Making': Combining magical ingredients to create a powerful solution that can be used to vanquish/banish/summon beings, deter threats, offer protection or to affect *'Scrying': Using a crystal and a map to locate a living being or object *'Active Power': Most all Witches possess some form of Active Power that can be used defensively, offensively or passively. The power is linked to the emotions and often requires practice and experience to fully harness. Sometimes these powers. if used properly, evolve over time into stronger powers and abilities but the opposite can be said as well, sometimes, if used improperly or taken for granted, can become latent, be removed or weaken. Good Witches Choosing to use their powers to protect the innocent, use their powers only to help those who are victimized and never use their powers for personal gain, Good Witches, like other magical beings, can be either male or female and be imbued with low-level or Upper-level magic powers. Having blood that is infused with their power, the Witch may or may not be aware of their power but will often come to realize it, but sometimes require magical aid to both understand and harness their powers. Lineage Good Witches are often the offspring of magical beings, who are either both magical or in several cases, one magical, one mortal. In rare cases, Good Witches can be the result of the union between a Good Witch and a Whitelighter, which results in a magical hybrid known as a Witch-Whitelighter, who will display both the powers of Witches and Whitelighters. The Window of Opportunity A forty-eight hour window that both Good and Evil agreed to eons ago to protect Free Will, the Window of Opportunity is a magical window offering a Witch the right to either use his or her powers for Good or Evil, whichever way the Witch chooses to use their power ultimately decides his or her fate as either a Good Witch or an Evil Witch. The Wiccan Rede A moral obligation that befalls all good Witches, the Wiccan Rede states that a Good Witch must not use his or her power to harm others and if a Witch tries to cast a spell for personal benefit, it will often backfire, affecting the Witch in a negative way. Guardians All Good Witches are assigned a special Guardian Angel known as a Whitelighter, who is charged with the responsibility of guiding and protecting the Witch. If the Witch is injured in a battle with an evil being, the Whitelighter can heal his or her charge's wound. Whitelighters are assigned their charges by the Elders who can also offer their advice to the Witches, where the Whitelighter serves as the messenger between the two species. Familiars Upon coming into his or her powers, a Good Witch will often have a Familiar, a magical animal that is charged with guiding neophyte Witches while they learn the craft, offering guidance, nurturing and a heightened awareness of the environment. The Familiar can be either a cat, dog, rabbit, horse, snake or any other such animal. Natural Enemies Most often Good Witches are targeted by Warlocks, Demons and in some cases Evil Witches. The most common threat to Good Witches are Warlocks who will hunt, capture and kill them in order to steal power. Armed with their power to Blink from place to place, warlocks can easily victimize Good Witches who can not defend themselves or are unaware how to use their power to defend themselves. Demons often seek to destroy Good Witches in order to thin the ranks of Good so that Evil gains the Upper Hand in the battle against Good and Evil. Although some demons are hired to take down Good Witches, others are born with the desire to decimate Good Witches and seek to kill them solely for sport. The Charmed Ones Comparable to no other magical beings, the Charmed Ones possess vast powers, abilities and knowledge of the Magical Arts and are considered to be the most powerful Witches in existence. Prue, Piper and Phoebe Halliwell, the daughters of Patricia Halliwell and Victor Bennett and Paige Matthews, the daughter of Patricia and her Whitelighter Sam Wilder, together are a force to be wreckoned with. Four sisters bestowed with the powers of their great, great, great, great, great grandmother Melinda Warren, who prophesied their birth before her death in 1693, promised that the sisters would acquire her powers to Stop Time, See the Future and Move objects with the Mind. The four sisters were destined to battle the forces of evil and protect the innocent but after three years of battling demonic threats, Prue Halliwell died at the hands of a demon known as Shax doing what she did best, protecting an innocent, which left the Power of Three torn asunder. But as hard as Prue's death was for her two sisters, they discovered they had another sister, Paige Matthews, who received a call in the wind after Piper cast a spell and Paige reconstituted the Power of Three. She continued the battle against evil with Piper and Phoebe, avenging Prue's death by destroying both Shax and the Source of All Evil. Together, as their powers evolved, the sisters continued battling evil and protecting innocents from supernatural threats. Using the Book of Shadows, which was started by Melinda Warren and passed down from generation to generation and contains entries about various magical beings, Good and Evil as well as Spells, Rituals, Charms and Potion written by Melinda, Penny Halliwell, Patty Halliwell, and other ancestors of the Charmed Ones, the four sisters were able to prepare themselves with foreknowledge of Demons and Warlocks encountered by past generations and used that knowledge against the threats. Together, the sisters annihilated several evil threats including the Source of All Evil, the Triad, Belthazor, Zankou, the Titans, Tuatha, Shax, the Woogyman, Tempus, The Brotherhood of the Thorn, Kurzon, The Rowe Coven, and the Vampire Queen. They also managed to overcome the Avatars and what was considered to be the "ultimate power", Christy Jenkins. Evil Witches Evil Witches tend to use their magic against other beings, including humans and often cast spells to achieve the goals. Unlike good witches, evil witches can also use their powers for Personal Gain and to punish the guilty. Some Evil Witches also take it to the extreme and kill Good Witches, killing out of disdain toward Good Beings. Evil Witches differ from Warlocks because Warlocks kill for power, Evil Witches, as said, kill out of disdain toward goodness. Like Good Witches, Evil Witches have Familiars that guide them down the path of Evil. Unlike Good Witches, Evil Witches do not possess guardians, such as Whitelighters. Lineage Evil Witches can be the offspring of one or two Evil Witches or even of a Good Witch. Since Evil Witches can be former Good Witches, their lineage can be either Good or Evil. Witch Practitioners Possessing no major active powers, Witch Practitioners are often mortal beings that believe in the existence of magic and tend to practice Witchcraft, attempting to cast spells, create potions and things of that nature. Sometimes they can be highly skilled in the magical arts and knowledgeable but unlike actual Witches, their blood is not infused with Magic. The Witch Trials For centuries Witches have been persecuted for their magical abilities but nothing was more serious and horrifying than the Salem Witch Trials of the seventeenth century. In the state of Massachusetts hundreds of people condemned as Witches were burned at the stake, most of whom never even displayed magical abilities in public were captured and burned alive. In a few instances. some people were in fact mortals with a belief in magic, but were still tried and executed. Phoenix Witches During the Trials, the ancestors of the Charmed Ones worked with another magical family known as the Marks trying to protect witches from the Trials. The exact details are unknown however. : Consumed by their rage of the persecution during the Witch Trials, a powerful breed of assassin witches, known as the Phoenix, rose from the ashes with vengeance in their hearts that will take down anyone they are hired to. Category: Charmed Universe Category: Magical Breeds Category: All Seasons